Selfish
by xxLaurenElizabethxx
Summary: Kevin McKinlet and Rebecca Stone are complete opposites with one common denominator- their hatred for one another. Unfortunately, neither can keep their eyes off each other. What are we to do?
1. The Beginning

**Chapter One**

Kevin McKinlet sat down at his breakfast table, sleep clouding his eyes. He lazily served himself a piece of toast and beckoned to Baretta, his tawny owl. Baretta perched on top of his head and twittered a bit before pecking at her owner's head for an owl treat. Kevin sighed and fed her one.

"Retta," he said happily, "Do you have the post this morning?" Retta chirped in the direction of a pile of papers lying on the table in front of him. Kevin stuffed the remainder of his toast into his mouth and reached for the stack of letters. He flipped through them lazily before his hands reached a sleek piece of parchment. Emblazoned on the letter were the words _Mr. K. McKinlet, 6 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. _

"Whoa, Mum!" yelled the excited 11-year-old. "I got into Hogwarts!"

His mother came rushing downstairs, light purple robes swaying. "That's wonderful news, honey!" she smiled, hugging her son. "Christophe! Did you hear?"

"Hogwarts, eh?" Kevin's crazy-haired, bespectacled father poked his head around the doorway. "_Felicitations_, boy. I hear that's one of the best!" He smiled warmly before returning to his computer, muttering something in his native French.

"Your crazy father insists on keeping that damn thing in the house," muttered Mrs. McKinlet. She loved her nonmagical husband so much, but that little box of cords and "electricity" drove her insane.

Kevin clutched his letter happily and ran out the door with it. He skipped happily down the street, two houses down.

"Mister Potter! Guess what guess what guess what?"

He dashed inside the house of 4 Privet Drive, skidding over the shiny wooden floor and into the kitchen. "Mister Potter!"

"'M up here, Kev," came a voice from the upstairs. Kevin clambered up the staircase, his letter getting wrinkled in his sweaty palm. He looked into all the rooms before he came to the one at the end of the hall, where a man with curiously messy hair and glasses sat as his desk, dictating a letter with a Quick-Quotes Quill.

"I used to hate these things," Mr. Potter commented to Kevin. "Met a really awful woman who abused one of 'em. But it turns out they're pretty useful!"

Kevin beamed up into the green eyes. "Guess my news!"

Mr Potter smiled, brushing his hair subconsciously in front of the odd mark on his forehead. "What?"

"I got my Hogwarts letter!" Kevin practically screamed, brandishing the parchment in front of the young man's face, which split into a gleam.

"That's wonderful, Kevin!" he exclaimed. "I went to Hogwarts, you know. It was fantastic."

"_You did_? Did you meet Miss Ginny there?" Kevin always referred to Mr. Potter's wife as Miss Ginny, as he'd always been taught to respectfully address women.

"Yeah, I did. Man, she was pretty. She was a year behind me, but we still managed."

"Do you think I'm gonna meet any pretty girls at Hogwarts?" Kevin asked, his eyes glimmering like a little boy in the prime of his youth.

"I'm sure you will, though I gotta say, it's kind of difficult to date girls who are in the years ahead of you, and it's even harder to date the ones in your year because you come to think of 'em all as sisters anyway, since you practically live together."

"But what about Miss Mione?" Kevin asked.

"She and Ron are a special case," Mr. Potter said, a smile in his eyes, thinking about his two best friends.

"I wanna know everything about Hogwarts, Mister Potter," Kevin grinned.

"I'll write you a novel," remarked the young man. "Now shoo. Go find your mother, you've got some shopping to do!"

"Thanks, Mister Potter!" Kevin grinned as he dashed out of the Potter house.


	2. The Meeting

**Chapter Two**

[A few years in the future]

Rebecca Stone sighed heavily, looking almost longingly at her scrambled eggs and glass of milk. This was her third year at Hogwarts, and she hated being a third-year. She was never quite old enough for her taste. She flicked her head to the side to get her blonde bangs out of her eyes, and the rest of her ringlets followed the quick motion.

_At least I'm in Slytherin_, she thought, snorting into her breakfast, catching the eye of an older student sitting kitty-corner from her. She finished off her eggs and bacon and grabbed her bags, heading off to a first hour Charms.

...

After Charms class, which wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, Rebecca packed up her things and left the room, buried in her thoughts and not paying attention to where she was going until she ran into something very solid.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the thing said. Looking up, Rebecca saw a tall, gangly kid with dark brown, spiked hair and a kind, tannish face.

"Watch where you're going." Rebecca snapped angrily, her green eyes narrowing. She knew she was technically in the wrong, but this kid just peeved her for some reason.

"Well, _excuse _me. But _you _were the one doing the going," he said, chuckling slightly. Her rude attitude amused him slightly.

"You were the one blocking the hallway!" Rebecca snarled.

"I'm sorry," he said sarcastically, "but have we met?" He was slightly offended and taken aback with her callousness.

"I certainly hope not," Rebecca said. She did not want him to know that she was a third-year. He looked like an older kid and it was probably to her advantage to keep up the bitchy attitude instead of acting her age.

He smiled sweetly. "I'm Kevin, what's your name?"

"I have to go to class now," she answered, brushing past him and stalking off.

She ended up spending her open period in the library, steaming about that boy she had run into. _What a pompous jerk_, she thought angrily. She chose to ignore the fact that she was the one being a huge bitch to him. But he had been blocking the hallway. So it was his fault, she concluded. She just hoped she never had to see him again.


	3. What Year Are You?

**Chapter Three**

Kevin smirked as he and his best friend Tyler walked into Potions. There was a new Potions professor this year, and he and Ty were really excited to figure out who he was.

"Good morning," drawled a cool voice from the corner of the room. A man stepped out, wrapped in slithery black robes. His white-blond hair glimmered in the flickering candlelight of the dungeons. "My name is Professor Malfoy, and you will address me as such. Sit."

The class, slightly uneased by his commanding manner, took their seats. A smirk crossed Kevin's face as he was reminded of the fiery little chick he'd bumped into in the hallway_. Damn, what a spitfire_, he thought to himself.

At the end of the hour, he and Ty had managed to concoct their potion just to Professor Malfoy's liking, as per usual. He and Ty were natural at Potions, and though he didn't like to brag, Ty did.

"Heeey, 'sup perfect potion!" Ty grinned, giving Kevin a high five. The two boys traipsed up the dungeon stairs to Transfiguration, which was their next class period. The second years joked slightly about their new professor. Suddenly, a full head of shiny blonde ringlets caught Kevin's eye.

"Hang on," he said to Ty, stepping through the traffic going in his direction and purposefully stepping out in front of the girl, whose nose was buried in a book.

She stopped herself just before she barreled into him.

"You," she spat.

"Miss me?" Kevin grinned.

"No," Rebecca said flippantly, trying to push past him.

"Where 'ya going?" asked Kevin, being purposefully annoying.

"Class," Rebecca said shortly. Kevin plucked the book from her hands.

"Whoa, fourth-year Transfiguration? Are you in my year?" This came as somewhat of a surprise, he'd though she had to have been a second year given her height and her air of being somewhat lost.

"You're a fourth-year?" Rebecca was surprised as well. She would have pegged the tall boy to be at least a sixth year.

"Why yes I am, now you can stop ogling me and tell me if you're going to the same class as I am."

"I _was _not ogling you!" Rebecca said, shocked at his presumption. She hated that this boy was able to throw her off her guard, and Rebecca made sure to always be on her guard. "And yes, I am going to double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw."

"But you're not in my year," Kevin pressed.

"No, I am not."

"What, did you fail last year?"

"I'm just smart. Can you say the same?"

"Top marks in every class last year," smirked Kevin. Normally he didn't do this, but this girl - he still didn't know her name! - was really pissing him off.

"I stand corrected. Now get out of my face or walk me to class like a fuckin' gentleman," Rebecca said derisively. "But I'd prefer the former. So please, move before I move you myself."

"I'd much rather the latter," Kevin grinned, linking arms with her.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked, pulling away. "Just let me got to class in peace, all right?" she stomped off. Kevin smiled to himself and skipped a little bit before following her to double Transfiguration.


	4. Buttons

**Chapter Four**

Rebecca frowned at her wand, trying not to look across the room at the annoying git that kept trying to get her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, he seemed to look away so she chanced a glance up at him.

He was about six feet tall, though she couldn't see the bottom half, with brown hair that stuck-up slightly in the front, and grey eyes that made her want to punch a wall every time she saw them. He had a nice, rounded face and a slightly turned-up nose, with perfectly straight, white teeth. His smile made her want to smile and punch a baby at the same time; the smirks he continued to flash at her were with one side of his mouth and really set her hair on fire.

She blushed furiously as she realized he was looking back at her. He _winked_ at her before turning back to Professor Willey, who had been speaking the whole time.

"Today we're learning how to turn the beetle in front of you into a button."

She told the class the incantation, taught them the wand movements, and set them to work. The only person in the classroom that mastered the spell faster than Rebecca was Kevin, and they both earned five points to their respective houses, she a Slytherin and he a Ravenclaw.

Rebecca jumped when she finally heard the bell and quickly packed up her things before getting caught in the throng of moving bodies trying to get out of the door.

_Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be_, she thought amusedly. _Maybe these classes won't be so difficult_.


	5. Kevin Met A Girl

**Chapter Five**

Rebecca Stone. Kevin was trying to commit that name to memory. The girl intrigued him to a point none of the girls in his year was ever able to. He and Ty had two really good female friends in their house, Emma and Jennifer, but he'd only crushed on them for a couple weeks before deciding they would be much better friends than potential love interests.

Between them, he and Ty had chased the tails of most of the girls in their year by this time. It wasn't that none of them were interesting; they'd made some pretty good female friends with their charming personalities, and they were easily among the most popular in their year.

Ty was a social animal, his curly black hair and constant smile winning as many hearts as his warm blue eyes did. He wasn't shy about sharing his accomplishments, but he did it in a genuine and non-bragging way, and everyone was generally more impressed than annoyed with him. He was the heatthrob of the fourth years, and girls more often than not came to him.

Kevin was different; he was far more interested in chasing after a girl than actually getting one. The thrill of the hunt appealed to him just as much as the girl, and therefore, Rebecca was going to pose one hell of a challenge.

Ty raced him to the Ravenclaw common room and the two of them snagged the chairs next to the fireplace. The royal blue carpet absorbed the reflecting light of the leathery bronze chairs. Jennifer skipped in, Emma on her heels, and the two girls joined them by the fireside. Jennifer sat on the arm of Kevin's chair, and Emma sprawled out on her stomach on the sky-blue rug in between the chairs.

"How was the first day back?" Emma grinned. She and Jennifer had twin schedules, as did Ty and Kevin, so the two pairs didn't see each other during the day except for lunch period.

Ty laughed. "Kevin met a _girl_," he said, raising his eyebrows knowingly.

Jennifer grinned. "Let me guess... tall, thin, blonde, blue eyes, and smiling up at you from a centerfold?"

"No, yes, yes, no, and no," Kevin answered cheekily. "She's also annoying as fuck."

"It's true," Ty supplemented. "Slytherin. Real mouth on her, too. Her name's Rebecca, yes?"

"Rebecca Stone. Nasty temper. It's really adorable, actually," Kevin said matter-of-factly.

"Let me guess, you're going to hit on her tomorrow in class," Emma grinned. She knew Kevin the best out of all of them, and she knew his "dating" habits.

"Of course not! For one thing, I'd come back missing several teeth and my right testicle. Plus, she's not sexy or anything, just a joy to irritate."

"Of course," Jennifer and Ty said at the same time, in the same sarcastic tone.

"Shut up, guys, if you knew her you'd agree."

"I don't doubt it," Emma said dryly.

Kevin shot her a raised-eyebrow look before swaggering off to bed.


	6. Cheering Charms

**Chapter Six**

Rebecca returned to the Slytherin common room, still fuming over Kevin. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she sat down in front of the stone fireplace, opening her textbook back up. One of the pages was slightly ripped.

"Ooh, Kevin McKinlet, I will _murder_ you." she murmured under her breath, staring at the ripped page. She angrily realized she was thinking of him again and gave up on any further realistic thoughts, going to bed.

...

The next day dawned bright and annoyingly cheerful- Rebecca knew this because the Great Hall ceiling told her so. There were no windows in the Slytherin common room- windows were for pansies. And Slytherins were not pansies.

She helped herself to copious amounts of eggs, toast, bacon, and a tall glass of orange juice. She winced as her bag fell off of the bench and onto her foot.

"Oh, fuck," she murmured in pain. Luckily, nothing had fallen out of her bag and her breakfast remained intact. Moving her bag slightly, so it wasn't cutting off blood circulation, she dug into her meal. After she had finished, she started to make her way to Charms class.

...

"Today, we will continue work on the Cheering Charms!" Professor Flitwick announced. Rebecca smiled fondly; he was so damn old, but he was still a top-notch professor. Everybody loved Flitwick.

"I have taken the liberty of assigning partners," he continued as a groan erupted in the room. "I think we need more inter-house unity."

Rebecca knew what was coming- it was just like in every other sappy romance story. She would get paired up with Kevin, the boy she loathed, and they would fall in love and shit. Not that she would ever fall in love with a boy like _him_.

"Rebecca Stone and... Tyler Henseler."

Rebecca sighed in relief- at least it wasn't Kevin.

She frowned as Tyler made his way over to her. He flashed her an all-too-bright smile and sat down on her right side.

"Hello," he said happily. Rebecca hated happy.

"Right," she said. "Let's just get this over with."

"Aren't we the little feisty tiger!" Tyler said, chuckling at his own cleverness. Rebecca simply stared at him in horror. Was she really paired up with this idiot?

"Don't be stupid." she said, blushing to the roots of her hair. "And call me that again if you want to be hexed into next week."

"Ooh, I'm scared. But is your bite as bad as your bark?" Tyler taunted her. She curled her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms in order to keep her from punching him in the eye. "I see I've touched a nerve."

_Unfortunately, he's not actually an idiot_, Rebecca seethed. She was about to engage in a battle of wits with someone who seemed quite prepared.

"Shut up," she snapped, picking up her wand and playing with it absent-mindedly. "Let's get to work."

"Sounds good to me," Tyler said back, the happy tone back in his voice and a new sparkle in his eye.

They set to work, trying to cheer each other up. Rebecca managed this on her fourth try, making Tyler grin like a true idiot. Tyler was having much more trouble with this spell.

"I can't seem to do it," he said, frustrated, after his sixth try on Rebecca. She grinned inwardly; Cheering Charms needed a lot more power to work on her than they would on any other human being.

"Must be my cold heart." she commented dryly. Tyler grunted in absent-minded agreement. Rebecca shook her head and looked around the room as Tyler looked the charm up in the textbook.

"Here we go," he said, giving his wand a practice movement before turning it on Rebecca once more. He announced the incantation and, to everybody's surprise, Rebecca cracked a smile. "I DID IT!" he yelled triumphantly, running over to Kevin and giving him a fist-bump.

Rebecca frowned.

Kevin winked.


	7. Denial

**Chapter Seven**

Kevin skipped down the hall, still giddy from the after-effects of the Cheering Charms. "I wanna know! Can you show me?" he sang loudly. All of the Muggleborns in the vicinity replied, "I wanna know about these strangers like me!"

Kevin loved connecting with Muggleborns at Hogwarts, especially the first and second years. He was a halfblood, but he liked the simple Muggle life his father led just as much as the freaking awesome magical life he had been reared with.

He and Ty went to lunch, where they saw Emma and Jennifer at the Ravenclaw table. Jennifer's curly red hair bounced as she laughed at something Emma had just said. Kevin and Ty took seats on either side of the two girls.

"How did class go?" Emma asked. "Still hung up on that girl?"

"Don't even get me started on her," Ty shuddered. "I have never seen anyone so strongly against being cheered up."

"She sounds like a real keeper," Jennifer smirked at Kevin, who merely stuck his tongue out like an insolent little child and heaped mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Denial," Emma giggled, flicking a chicken wing at Kevin's face. It hit him square in the forehead.

"Emmaa," Kevin whined, rubbing his forehead. She merely smiled sweetly in his direction and waved her fingers cutely. Kevin made a face and leaned backwards, stretching out his arms. At that moment, his hands smacked right into the stomach of the hurrying, book-laden Slytherin who had been the subject of conversation just moments before.

Books clattered to the ground for the second time in two days. "Damn it, McKinlet, watch where you swing those things," barked Rebecca, winded from being hit but determined not to let it show.

"Sorry, Becca, didn't see you there," grinned Kevin, turning around and resting his chin in his hand to watch her pick up her books. She stopped dead and dropped the text to the ground.

"Never," she breathed, looking ready to shoot fire, "call me that. It's _Re_becca. Dumbass." With that, she picked up her pile of books and flounced off to the Slytherin table.

Jennifer let out a long, low whistle. "That girl," she said quietly, "is a piece of work."

"Kevin, please don't tell me you're interested in that ice bitch," Emma sighed. "You've dealt with too many of those in your lifetime."

"Interested? Ha!" grinned Kevin. "I just like to push her around a bit." His friends murmured in agreement, but Kevin wasn't totally settled. He couldn't be completely sure, but he thought that he might have possibly been ogling his Slytherin vixen's ass as she'd stalked off.


	8. Teacher's Pet

**Chapter Eight**

Rebecca felt his eyes on her as she made her way over to the Slytherin table. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she used all of her self-control not to swing around and jinx that stupid boy's face in. She sat down and heaped food onto her plate, eating at top-speed again, picking up a book every so often to check a fact or figure for her next class, which was potions.

...

When she was in the dungeon, she finally felt home. She absolutely loved concocting potions, and it was definitely her strength. She opened up her book and was reading through it when she caught sight of robes whipping into the room.

"Good afternoon," the voice said icily. "I am Professor Malfoy, and you will address me as such. Sit." he observed the class sitting. "Now, as this is only your first day of potions, we will be starting out on a less difficult potion; the Shrinking Solution."

Rebecca's heart skipped a beat, she knew this one! She sat up a little straighter in her seat, giving Professor Malfoy her full and undivided attention. Once he had waved his wand at the board and the instructions had appeared there, she set to work.

Roughly an hour later, Professor Malfoy commanded the room to stop working; everyone obeyed immediately. Rebecca smiled at her potion; it was a bright acid green, just like it was supposed to look like. Professor Malfoy made his way around the classroom, frowning at some people, smiling and nodding at others. When he reached Rebecca's, his eyes opened, making his cold, grey irises brighten as much as possible without showing actual elation.

"This, class," he sneered, "is what a Shrinking Solution should look like." Rebecca's grin stayed plastered to her face; she loved it when professors praised her and appreciated her work. "Come here; some of you dunces need a proper look at what potions should look like." He flashed a smile in Rebecca's direction just as the bell rang.

"Everyone except Rebecca Stone- twelve inches on what went wrong in your potion and why you cannot repeat that mistake. Due the next time I see you."

Rebecca gathered her things and left the classroom, a smug smile on her face, her back a little straighter, and her head held a little higher.


	9. It's On

**Chapter Nine**

Kevin and Ty had a skipping-race to Potions the next day. Professor Malfoy was pretty cool, nothing like their old, wrinkly Professor Cwodzinski, who had retired last year. The two boys were keen to impress him, to get on his good side.

When they got to the classroom, they found Professor Malfoy ladling a bubbly green potion from a cauldron and into a little bottle for storage.

"Hello, professor," Ty smiled. "What potion is that?"

"It's a Shrinking Solution, perfectly brewed by one of my Slytherin third-years yesterday."

Kevin stopped. "She wouldn't happen to be blonde and kind of a snotrag, would she?" he asked, trying to sound casual and uninterested.

"Blonde, yes," said their Professor, smiling a little bit to himself. "Rebecca Stone. Acquaintance of yours?"

"You could say that," Kevin said airily. So, Rebecca was one of Professor Malfoy's little pets? Well, he would definitely have to show her up today.

"Class, we are making Strengthening Solutions today," the professor addressed the class.

"But sir, those are fifth-year-level potions," protested a ditzy girl in the back.

"And you are smart enough to look the recipe up in the book, Miss Witte," snapped Professor Malfoy. The rest of the class turned to the recipe in the back of their book and got started.

Ty and Kevin prepared all the ingredients, measuring salamander blood and squeezing pomegranate juice, before starting. This was a tactic they'd learned first year that cut down their potion-making time by quite a bit. They followed the steps to the T, and their Strengthening Solution turned out perfectly. As a bonus, they were finished a good twenty minutes before the rest of the class. Professor Malfoy was visibly impressed.

"Shall I tell Miss Stone?" he asked quietly, leaning in so Ty couldn't hear.

"Yes, sir," grinned Kevin. Oh, this was going to be good.


	10. Accio, Detention

**Chapter Ten**

[Three Years Later]

Rebecca woke up and rubbed her eyes sleepily, already in a good mood. She decided to wear her long curls up in a ponytail and put on her usual black eyeliner, lip gloss, and mascara. Breakfast passed uneventfully, until she looked at her schedule. She groaned loudly; Double Charms and Double Transfiguration. Today may not be as easy as she thought it would be.

Even after three years, her hatred for Kevin McKinlet had not dimmed. However, there was a peppering of awkward tension between them that only solidified her dislike of him and her will to beat him in everything.

...

"Good morning, class!" Professor Flitwick said cheerily. Rebecca couldn't bring herself to hate him for his cheerfulness as he floated around the classroom, smiling broadly at his students. "Today we're going to perfect our work on the Summoning Charm."

Rebecca saw Kevin and Tyler sit up straighter in their seats, and she matched them. It was on. Again, she caught herself staring at Kevin and he winked at her. She could sense that this would continue to be a daily occurrence since they still had classes together and had started this silent competition years ago.

"The incantation is _Accio_, as all of you remember. All right, class, let's see what you have!"

A few moments later, Rebecca's robes flew over her head and across the room. Confused and angry, she whirled around to where she suspected her robes had gone. She was right- Kevin was the culprit. Her cheeks reddened and her fist clenched around her wand- she was left in her skirt, blouse, and tie. His eyes raked over her body, moving up and down from her head to her toes and her eyes burned holes into his face. She stormed over to where he was and grabbed a fistful of his robes, bringing his face down to hers.

"Give me back my robes, McKinlet," she snarled at him. His eyes opened in surprise at her anger and strength. "Or I swear to Merlin I will curse you into next week."

"If you want them back," he said, his lips barely an inch from hers, winking, "you know what to do."

Rebecca had no words for the extent to which she was pissed off. Letting go of his robes, she walked away from him a few paces before whipping around and pointing her wand at his face.

"_Aguamenti_!" she cried, a fountain of water flowing out of her wand and drenching Kevin in soft clear water. His face was justice enough; first shock fliltted across it, followed by anger. She had gotten his perfectly-kept hair wet. Absolutely soaking wet. A sneer spread across her lips, and she realized that watching him get this was even worth her robes getting wet.

"Miss Stone!" Professor Flitwick said, his eyes jubilant. "That was an excellent charm!"

Rebecca simply goggled at him, though she was not altogether displeased. That was certainly not what she had expected.

"However, I must take five points from Slytherin and I must give you both detentions. And you must go out and help him dry off. Go on, now. Oh, and five points from Ravenclaw for attempted strippage of another student."

Fuming now, Rebecca led Kevin out of the classroom, out of the castle, and onto the grounds. This was going to be an even worse punishment than detention.


	11. Drying Off

**Chapter 11**

Kevin scowled as he flicked excess water off of his robes in Rebecca's direction. "Thank you, Becca dearest, for getting me completely drenched."

"My pleasure, _darling_," she seethed sarcastically, dodging the water he was currently trying to spew at her.

Once they were out on the lawns, Kevin proceeded to completely strip himself. He threw his waterlogged robes in Rebecca's face, soaking her as well.

"That was mature," she growled, running her fingers through her now damp hair, taking the ponytail out and struggling to put it back in.

Kevin rid himself of his black pants and white button-up, both emblazoned with a Ravenclaw crest. He remained in his blue-and-copper tie and a pair of plain black boxers.

Rebecca, also now soaked, needed a change of clothes as well. She removed her robes and shirt, staying in a white camisole and green-and-silver tie. Thankfully her skirt had stayed dry. She tried as hard as she could to keep her eyes off of Kevin, who, despite his unbearableness and pretentions, was undeniably attractive. _Damn him for having perfect abs,_ Rebecca thought bitterly.

Unfortunately, Kevin noticed her looking.

"See anything you like?" he grinned. She almost exploded with anger; it took all of her composure to stop herself from attacking him like some wild animal. Instead, she bit her tongue and even began to hum. This was different, because Rebecca hated humming; humming was for happy people. And Rebecca was _not_ a happy person.

"You _do_ like it!" cried Kevin gleefully. He began prancing around her in a circle, humming (damn happy people! thought Rebecca), and the like. Unfortunately, they would have to stay outside until their clothes dried off completely, which could take a while. Rebecca sat down in a patch of grass, Summoneda book, and began to read.

"Jees, Becs, I knew you were smart, but some people can be smart without having their noses stuffed in a book all the time," Kevin smirked, using a bastardization of Rebecca's hated pet name.

"Some people can be smart and not be cocky assholes about it," Rebecca shot back, vowing to ignore him for the rest of the afternoon. Despite her frustration, she couldn't stop herself from sneaking peeks at Kevin's chest over the top of her book when she thought he wasn't looking. He almost caught her a few times, but she passed it off as swatting a bug away or things like that. She decided to stop correcting him on her name; he would never listen to her, so she decided that every time he called her anything other than Rebecca, she would just add it to the list of things about Kevin McKinlet that made her want to puke rainbow-colored chunks. Rebecca hated rainbows too. This was another reason Kevin irritated her.

Kevin, too, was having problems keeping his eyes off his adversary. She'd been irritating him for three years, and during those three years she'd gone from a snotty, skinny little rat of a girl to... well... a snotty, skinny girl who was unfortunately capable of hexing him in ways even he couldn't counter. But despite that, he had to admit to himself that Rebecca was kind of cute, in her own sort of hateful way.

"McKinlet, stop peering up my skirt and entertain yourself otherwise," Rebecca barked. Kevin still wasn't sure how she was able to tell these things, and it unnerved him.

"But Becky," he whined, playing with her name again. "I'm _bored_."

She looked up from her book to glare at him. All he did was stand up, stretch pointedly to flex his abs in her direction, and flop down next to her.

"Some personal space, please," she snapped. "I have to deal with you in classes, I don't need you this close to me now."

Kevin merely grinned cutely as he lay his still-damp head on the pages of her textbook. "I'm distracting you!" he said excitedly, as if nothing pleased him more.

"I know. Stop it," she snapped again.

"Why? You like looking at me. Why don't you look at me some more? I don't mind."

_Damn Kevin McKinlet for being the smart, charming ass-head he is. Damn him_, thought Rebecca. _It's his fault I'm about to do this._

She sat up straighter, closed her book with a snap, and laid an angry kiss on Kevin's mouth.

"There. That'll teach you to get in my way," Rebecca growled as she stood up, put on her now dry shirt and robes, and stalked back into the school.

Kevin lay, shirtless and still wet, in the same spot he'd been in. What in bloody Merlin was that all about?


	12. You Have A Detention

**Chapter Twelve**

Rebecca spent the remainder of the day angrily brooding over the kiss and over Kevin McKinlet. The hatred that she had been feeling for years had finally burst through and was pumping through her veins at a mile a minute. She went over scenarios of it in her head, most ending in her cursing him into oblivion or murdering him. That night, she fell into an angry sleep, still dreaming of ways to end Kevin McKinlet's life.

...

The next day dawned rainy and cloudy, and Rebecca's mood had at least cooled off. A good night's sleep always did that. She groaned when she remembered her detention as well. She would rather be alone in a room with a Blast-Ended Skrewt than spend more time with McKinlet. Sighing and finishing her breakfast, she went to Potions, a smile in her eyes at the prospect of having a double hour in the dungeons.

"Good morning, class," Professor Malfoy drawled, addressing the various students seated in front of him. "Today we will be making the Draught of the Living Death; the instructions can be found on page ten of your books. You have one hour. Begin."

Everyone made themselves look busy as Professor Malfoy walked around the classroom and looked at how each student was handling the assignment. When he got to Rebecca, he paused.

"Miss Stone," he said. "I am sure you are aware that you have a detention this evening with a Mr. Kevin McKinlet?"

"Yes, sir," Rebecca muttered, sorting out her ingredients.

"Your detention will be served with me."

Rebecca looked up. "What will we be doing? Sir?" she added hastily.

"You will be sorting various potion ingredients. I want you two to play nice. And, Miss Stone," he said as he walked away, "don't poison him."

...

Kevin made his way to the greenhouses, still thinking about Rebecca and the kiss, but in a very different way. She had plagued his dreams last night in ways that would make Hugh Hefner blush. He shook his head for the millionth time that morning in order to get her out of his head.

_Since when has she been so... attractive?_ he asked himself, frowning. Rebecca Stone was _not_ attractive. She was an annoying girl who, unfortunately, could curse him into pieces. But she was not attractive.

Professor Longbottom stepped into the greenhouses and looked around at the class.

"Today we'll be taking a look at Mandrakes," he said, smiling fondly at the giant table in front of him and the students. The leaves that were popping out of the pots were twitching this way and that, and seemed to have minds of their own. "Now, who can tell me the use of a Mandrake?"

Ty's hand broke the air first.

"Yes?"

"A Mandrake draught is used to return those who have been Petrified or Transfigured to their original state."

"Excellent, five points to Ravenclaw," Professor Longbottom said, nodding in Ty's direction. He and Kevin shared a subtle fist bump.

"Now, these Mandrakes are full grown, so their cries will kill you. Everyone, put on these earmuffs..."

...

"Mr. McKinlet, may I speak with you, please?" Professor Longbottom called after the class had been let out. "Just for a minute."

Kevin nodded to Ty, who began traipsing towards the castle.

"Yes, Professor?"

"In regards to your detention tonight. You and Miss Stone will be sorting out potion ingredients for Professor Malfoy. Six o'clock, in the dungeons. Don't be late."

Kevin groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long, painful night.


	13. Kevin, You Moron

**Chapter Thirteen**

Kevin arrived in the dungeon at six o'clock on the nose. He shrugged his bag off his shoulder and made his way into the dim room. To his irritation, Rebecca was already there, perched self-righteously on a stool in front of a pile of slimy-looking crawly things, all waiting to be placed into jars of variously-colored solutions. _Does she always have to be one step ahead of me? Bloody kiss-ass_, he thought bitterly, taking a seat next to her.

"About time," she sneered, gingerly picking up a convulsing caterpillar and plopping him into a jar of purplish liquid.

"I'm not late, don't pull that crap with me," Kevin shot back, rolling back the sleeves of his robes and digging in to the heap of gross stuff in front of him. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, picking at sheep eyes, half-dead beetles, and the like. Kevin was painfully aware of his close proximity to Rebecca's ice-cold flesh, causing him to become slightly distracted.

_Damn it! Stop distracting me, woman!_ Kevin thought ferociously. The worst part was, she seemed to be perfectly aware how much of a distraction she was being to him. He was seriously considering dumping a jar of writhing tubers on her head to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off her face. He was saved from this undoubtedly bad decision by Professor Malfoy, who poked his head out from his office to check on them.

"Miss Stone, do work faster, you have forty minutes left," he said, eying the ingredient pile that didn't seem to have gotten any smaller over the last hour. Rebecca's eyebrows furrowed. "What about Kev- I mean, McKinlet?"

"His side of the pile is smaller," Malfoy pointed out. "You do not need to be perfect about it, that's what the solutions are for. They'll tell you if it's wrong." Indeed, Rebecca had been looking up each ingredient in the book to make sure she was putting it in the right jar. She furrowed her brow deeper, irritated to have been told to stop being perfect by a teacher. Kevin was meanwhile trying not to smirk as Professor Malfoy retreated back to his office.

"Hear that, Becksy?" Kevin grinned, nearly stripping her of her patience with the nickname alone. "Work faster."

"Shut the hell up," she muttered, angrily throwing a fish bone at him. He retaliated with the leech he had been about to drop into a gooey blue substance. What could have easily turned into an ingredient fight was quelled when the leech landed square on Rebecca's bare shin and quickly latched itself there.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Kevin said. He abhorred the girl he was sitting next to, but he felt genuinely bad for giving her a leech bite.

"No matter," Rebecca said, shuddering. Secretly, she hated most insects; this was a problem for an advanced potion maker such as herself, but the ones they used in classes were dead and she'd been wearing gloves while sorting them out for this detention.

"Here, I'll get it off," Kevin said, making to retrieve his wand from his pocket.

"What, and have you hex my leg off?" Rebecca snapped, her teeth gritting together due to the disgust of the bloodsucking thing attached to her.

"I cast better charms than you do," Kevin countered, his eyes locking onto hers for some reason. Rebecca couldn't argue this, nor could she tear her eyes from his gaze. She allowed him to get his wand. "Brace yourself," Kevin warned Rebecca before he pointed his wand at the leech and murmured, "Relashio." The insect ripped out of her leg and slammed against the opposite wall. Kevin tossed it in the jar and returned to Rebecca, who was looking disdainfully at the bleeding bite on her leg.

"You should clean that," Kevin advised her.

"Thanks, Mom," she said sarcastically before using her wand to produce a sort of soapy water with which she cleaned the bite. Kevin fetched some bandages from the closet in the potions room and clumsily tied them over the wound. "There," he said, looking at Rebecca's leg.

"Thanks," she said, looking at him with a slightly distrustful but not completely evil look.

"_De rien_," Kevin said absent-mindedly.

"What?" Rebecca asked, confused. Rebecca hated being confused.

"_De rien,_" Kevin repeated before realizing he'd reverted into French, a habit he picked up from his father when he wasn't exactly thinking. "Wait, sorry. My father's French, I pick up phrases from him and sometimes I speak it off the top of my head when I'm not thinking," he babbled.

"I see," said Rebecca, not sure why she was all of a sudden interested or why this interest was all of a sudden dulling her urge to punch Kevin McKinlet's eye out for throwing a leech at her. "Any particular phrases?"

"Mostly expressions," he explained. "_C'est bien_ for 'good,' _merci _for 'thanks', stuff like that."

"_Vous pouvez partir,_" came Professor Malfoy's voice, purring in perfect French.

"I didn't know you spoke it too, Professor," Kevin said excitedly. Rebecca just looked at him blankly. "He said we could leave," Kevin added to her, noting her expression. Rebecca gathered her books and made for the door. Before she left, she hesitated. Kevin watched her expectantly. She turned around and locked eyes with him.

"I still despise you," she said in a tone so final that Kevin knew she wasn't lying. "Goodnight, _ma chérie_," he grinned, wiggling his fingers at her in a teasing wave goodbye. She scoffed, turned on her heel, and left the dungeon.

Kevin watched her go, losing himself in thought. Granted, he still disliked her too. She pissed him off with a fervor that he'd never felt before. _So why am I trying to chase her?_ Kevin asked himself furiously. Clearing his thoughts of her as best he could, Kevin hoisted his bag onto his shoulder, bid Professor Malfoy goodnight, and returned to his dormitory.


	14. Hospital Wing

**Chapter Fourteen**

Rebecca undressed and got into bed that night, thinking about the complex potions she would be making the next day in Professor Malfoy's class. She had managed to keep her mind off of Kevin McKinlet for longer than she thought she would, but as she took a look at the bandages on her leg, his face popped up in her mind. Frowning, she remembered the French that had been spoken between him and Professor Malfoy, and she felt a fresh wave of resentment at being confused.

Gingerly touching the top of the bandage where the wound from the leech was, she inhaled sharpy as the touch elicited a sharp lightning bolt of pain through her body. Curious now, she softly began to undo her bandages, realizing once she got down to the first wrapping that blood was still flowing steadily out of the wound. _That is not supposed to happen..._ she thought, taking the wrappings off completely.

"Shit," she said, louder than she thought. The wound was still bleeding steadily, and showed no signs of stopping. "Damn you, Kevin McKinlet!" she cursed. It was all his damn fault. _I will kill you._ She quickly re-did the bandages, making them tight as to hopefully stop the flow. _We'll see how it is in the morning..._ was the last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

...

"Miss Stone? Miss Stone?"

"Becks?"

Snippets of conversation. Voices. People.

Black.

...

Rebecca's eyes snapped open.

"Where am I?"

A hurried set of footsteps. Warm fingers on her forehead. A check of her pulse. A touch of her shin. A shock of pain.

"Ouch! What are you doing? Where am I? What happened?"

"Miss Stone, please calm down while you are under my care." It was Madame Pomfrey. "You are in the Hospital Wing. You have a pretty nasty bite there, on your shin."

"I know. Kevin McKinlet's fault. Where is that bastard? I want to throttle him!"

"Language, please, Miss Stone. You need no more stimulation. The faster your heart pumps, the more blood comes out of there."

"What class do I need to be in?" Rebecca asked, starting to get up. "I have to be in class, I can't skip."

"Oh, no, I don't think so!" Madame Pomfrey said, bustling around to the side of her bed and pushing her back down. "You need to rest; the more you rest, the faster you'll heal."

Great. No class, no moving, no magic. Rebecca sank down into her pillows in a bad mood.

And it was all Kevin McKinlet's fault.


	15. Where's Rebecca?

**Chapter Fifteen**

Kevin slouched back into his chair. It was Double Transfiguration with the Slytherins today, which meant that Rebecca ought to be here. But there was no sign of her pompous face anywhere in the classroom.

"Good morning, my children," cried Professor Willey, wheeling a cart covered in parchment into the room and clutching a mug of coffee from the Great Hall. Kevin grinned. Willey was definitely one of his favorite professors; she was a damn good witch, and she was also a particular stickler for grammar in their essays. And she had so much energy that she might as well be under a constant Cheering Charm.

She Summoned a birdcage from the corner of the room. It landed squarely on her desk. With a flick of her wand, Professor Willey opened the cage. A plethora of brightly colored birds whizzed out of their confine and began to energetically fly around the room. Willey quickly cast a Silencing Charm on them and bade each of the birds to perch itself on the desk of one of the students. Everyone in the room applauded; Professor Willey was famous for her theatrical presentations of her lessons.

Kevin smiled, reaching out a finger to stroke the white-gold and rich violet plumage of his bird. The thing couldn't have been more than four inches tall, and the feathers that streamlined its body were little more than downy fluff. It extended its silvery beak and lightly pecked at his hand as if to say, "Pay attention!" A chorus of "ouch!"s rippled throughout the room as the other birds directed attention back to Willey.

"Today, we will be learning how to change the color of the birds in front of you," she addressed the class. With another flick of her wand, all of the birds simultaneously turned stark white- a clean palate for the class's assignment. Professor Willey gave the class their instructions and set them off to work.

Kevin had painted his bird sky blue and magenta in less than ten minutes, earning him a thumbs-up and a subtle piece of chocolate from Professor Willey. While the majority of the birds stayed stubbornly white, Kevin allowed his eyes and mind to wander. Where was Rebecca?

...

Rebecca awoke again from a potion-induced sleep. She winced as her leg throbbed. It was raised on a pile of pillows in front of her, and try as she might, she couldn't move it.

"Excuse me, Madame Pomfrey?" It wasn't in Rebecca's nature to be either nice or polite, but she respected Madame Pomfrey as she was the one in charge of healing Rebecca's leg.

"Yes, dear?"

"Um... why can't I move my leg?"

"I cast a spell to keep it in place so you wouldn't hurt it while you were sleeping," Madame Pomfrey explained.

"Oh," Rebecca said blankly. That would make sense, yes.

"Oh, and you've had a visitor," Madame said. "They left you something."

Rebecca sat up straighter. No one really liked her that much, who would come visit her? Perhaps Professor Willey? Willey sometimes visited her students in the Hospital Wing. That would make sense.

Madame Pomfrey appeared again with a small golden birdcage. The bird was minuscule, perhaps only about four inches tall, but his striking feathers were shining silver and green in the daylight seeping through the window. Slytherin colors.

"He's beautiful," Rebecca gasped. She opened the cage and the bird cocked its head, hopped out, and alighted on her outstretched finger. She nuzzled his head slightly, pleased to find that his feathers were ridiculously soft.

"Headmistress McGonagall approved him as a pet for you," Madame assured Rebecca before turning to go back into her office.

"Madame?" Rebecca asked. Madame Pomfrey turned around. "Who brought him in?"

Madame Pomfrey smiled a little bit. "They requested not to be named."


	16. Visitor

**Chapter Sixteen**

Rebecca had no idea who the bird was from, but it was not for lack of trying to figure it out. Her best guess was Professor Willey, but she couldn't understand why Professor Willey wouldn't want to be named.

"Hello, Theodore," she said as he pecked her hand ever-so-lightly. The bird had started to grow on her, becoming almost like a feathery friend. She had been talking to him, and he had been the only one other than Madam Pomfrey to keep her company. And Madam Pomfrey had work to do, so she was more out than in.

Theodore hopped onto her pillow and looked around the room before hopping to the bedside table covered in books. Because Theodore was an excellently behaved bird, Madam Pomfrey allowed him to flit about the room and twitter and go around everyone's heads.

Rebecca sighed and fell back into the pillows, her eyes examining the high, stoned ceiling. When she heard footsteps, she listened to the beat to see who it was.

It wasn't Madam Pomfrey.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped at Kevin McKinlet.

"That's not a very nice way to greet your visitor," Kevin said, an irksome smile on his face. "Damn, Becks, you look like hell!"

"No thanks to you," she said, frowning, still watching the ceiling. She refused to look at him. She didn't want to see his stupid face.

"Yeah... I feel bad about that."

She looked at him in surprise. She didn't expect him to feel bad about it. "Whatever."

He trailed a finger along her sheets, following it with his eyes.

"So..." he said, "when do you get out?"

"Whenever Madam Pomfrey discharges me, idiot." Rebecca snapped. Theodore tweeted and fluttered over to Kevin, landing on his shoulder. Kevin stroked his feathers absent-mindedly. Rebecca's eyes followed the bird's movement, glaring at McKinlet.

"What did you name him?" he asked, smiling at the bird, then at Rebecca.

"Theodore," she said, clipping the name short with the tip of her tongue.

"Hello, Teddy," Kevin cooed, making kissy noises at the green-and-silver bird. Rebecca re-arranged her face into a blank look.

"His name. Is. Theodore. And why does he know you?"

"I colored him," Kevin answered, ignoring her first jab at the bird's name.

Rebecca was stunned. At that moment, Madam Pomfrey walked in.

"She needs to rest," she said, smiling fondly at Kevin. "But she'll be out in a couple of days."

"Excellent, I miss you in class," Kevin said, winking infuriatingly at Rebecca, turning around, and walking off. Before he walked out the door, he took Theodore off of his shoulder and sent him back over to Rebecca. "See you soon, sweetheart."


	17. Quidditch

**Chapter Seventeen**

_That asshole,_ Rebecca thought to herself as she watched Kevin retreat. _What right does he have to call me 'sweetheart'?_ She looked to Theodore for comfort; the little bird perched itself on her finger again so she could bring his fuzzy feathers to her cheek. Rebecca's penchant for soft things was something she'd rather keep to herself. But now even that was something Kevin had wriggled his way into.

_"I colored him." _The words rang in her head as though someone had put them on repeat. _"I colored him." _That must have been what the class did during Transfiguration. Oh, that she had been there in that class. She would have excelled, perhaps mastered the spell even before Kevin did. (She was sure Kevin had been the first to get it right.) The words haunted her. Why would Kevin bring her a bird? Why would he color the bird in her House colors rather than his? How did he even get the creature out of the Transfiguration room in the first place?

She was surprised at how little resentment she felt towards Theodore. Normally, everything that reminded her of Kevin made her want to hex a bitch, but the sweet little bird only drew forth feelings of peace and affection from her. Affection. How weird to be feeling _affection _for something so closely associated with Kevin McKinlet! But Theodore was damn cute, so she made that her excuse.

The little bird fluttered back into his cage and chirped a few times. Rebecca took this as her cue to go back to sleep. The sooner she could get out and attack Kevin McKinlet, the better.

...

Kevin smirked. His bird had definitely thrown her off, much as he had planned it to. Since their detention two nights ago, Kevin was making a mental plan to do everything he could to get Rebecca off her guard. If she fell for him, even better; he didn't want his perfect girl-record marred by some mouthy Slytherin, and he wasn't about to let Rebecca do that. This was his game, they were playing by his rules, and Kevin wanted to win at all costs.

He skipped down the staircase to the Hospital Wing and off to lunch. Happily, he took his seat in between Emma and Jennifer. Ty was down a few tables, flirting with a very pretty Hufflepuff sixth-year whose name Kevin didn't know.

Emma followed his gaze. "That's Jamie Robinson," she said to his unanswered question. "She's on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Beater."

Ty returned, a smirk on his face. "Guess who has box-seat tickets for the upcoming Hufflepuff v. Gryffindor match?"

"Nice one, mate!" Kevin exclaimed, fist-bumping Ty over the table. Jennifer rolled her eyes and grinned at her best friends' antics.

"I got one for all four of us!" Ty added, throwing the tickets on the table.

"Thanks!" Emma and Jennifer said in unison, taking their tickets. Both girls were huge Quidditch fans, which Ty knew. The game was later that evening, and Kevin decided that he'd do all his homework in class to clear his night.

...

It was a chilly October evening, so Kevin felt justified in the huge fluffy Ravenclaw scarf dangling from his shoulders. He wore a Ravenclaw jacket as well, the blue leather starting to wear down from use. He and Ty met up with the girls in the common room and the four of them made their way out to the Quidditch pitch. They ascended the special staircase for the box seats, shivering in anticipation. Kevin was excited; in his seven years, he'd never once had box seats to a game.

The game started with the referee's whistle; the Quidditch director, Mister Whipkey, was new to Hogwarts this year, but there was a rumor going around that he'd coached both the Appleby Arrows and, for a short while, the Chudley Cannons. Regardless, he blew into the whistle and launched the Quaffle into the air. The scarlet ball was quickly snagged by Hufflepuff; Ty managed to get in a quick wink at Jamie Robinson before she sprang into action with the rest of her team.

The bitter autumn wind whipped around the spectators, nearly muffling their cheers and groans. Ty was whooping wildly for Jamie every time she smacked a Bludger, causing Kevin to good-naturedly bury his face in his hands. Emma had forgotten a jacket, and was turning almost as blue as the Ravenclaw sweater she was wearing.

"You okay?" Kevin asked, grinning at his best friend.

"C-cold," Emma smiled back through chattering teeth. Kevin unzipped his own jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. With contact to the jacket, which had retained some of Kevin's body heat, Emma visibly relaxed and pulled the jacket tighter to her.

It took Kevin a few minutes to start feeling the wind. He shivered slightly, wishing Emma wasn't wearing his jacket but too much of a gentleman to take it back. However, she noticed this.

"Here, take this back," she smiled, handing him the jacket. Kevin swung the leather fabric around his shoulders and gratefully pushed his arms back through the sleeves. Emma sat in his lap, pulling the front of his unzipped jacket around herself. Kevin smiled at this arrangement; both of them were warm, and it was completely acceptable since they were best friends and were about as close as two people could be.

The game went on as dusk fell; Gryffindor's Seeker, a fourth-year called Alex Williamson, had seen the Snitch about five times, but the thing still hadn't been caught. Spectators were starting to leave, as happened when the games lasted longer than about two hours; students had homework to finish or exams to study for, and the population of the stadium dwindled slowly. Finally, as Jennifer's watch neared ten o'clock, Williamson spotted the Snitch a final time. This time, he got lucky and captured the thing immediately. Gryffindor won the game.

Ty caught Jamie's eye and held out his arms in a symbolic hug. She smiled wryly and motioned for him to meet her on the ground. Ty grinned widely and turned to Kevin and the girls.

"Destiny is calling me," he said suavely before standing up, stretching, and departing a little faster than he needed to.

"He will never settle," Jennifer giggled as they watched their friend go.

"I wonder if he knows Jamie's seeing someone?" Emma joked, disentangling herself from Kevin's jacket.

Both Jennifer and Kevin said incredulously, "She's _seeing _someone?"

"Yeah, some prick named Brian," Emma said.

"Oh, they broke up, no big deal," Jennifer assured her. The two of them launched into girl-chatter, letting Kevin tune out. Almost immediately, his mind sprang to Rebecca. _No! This is not the time for Rebecca! _he yelled at himself, shaking his head. _You're supposed to be chasing her, not dwelling on her!_ Kevin did many things regarding females, but dwelling on them was not one of them. He contented himself with carrying Emma piggyback-style back to their commons room, hoping she would distract him from the Slytherin annoyance in his head.


	18. Death By Telescope

**Chapter Eighteen**

Rebecca contented herself that night with listening to the yells, screams, chants, and groans of the Quidditch match happening outside. She could almost feel the adrenaline coming from the stands, and wished she was out there cheering with the rest of the school. Usually she wasn't a huge Quidditch fan, but she was now of the state-of-mind that anything would be better than this room.

"Who won?" she asked Madam Pomfrey as she changed her bandages.

"Gryffindor, I heard," Madam Pomfrey answered absent-mindedly. "I see you're healing quite quickly. You can go tomorrow morning, after I check on you."

Rebecca smiled. _Finally, I can get back to classes!_ "Excellent!"

"But you have to get a good night's sleep tonight."

...

The next morning dawned bright and cheerful, and for once, Rebecca's mood matched. She was getting out today!

"All right, dear," Madam Pomfrey said, changing the dressings one last time. "Here are your fresh dressings, and if you start to bleed again, come here right away. Don't change them very often, and don't do anything strenuous. Understand?"

"Yes, yes," Rebecca said distractedly. "What classes do I have today?"

"Ancient Runes, Double Charms, and... Astronomy."

"Okay." Rebecca said, already imagining how much fun it would be to skewer Kevin McKinlet with a telescope.


	19. Duel

**Chapter Nineteen**

Kevin grinned. Today was Double Charms, which meant that Rebecca was probably better, which meant that she was going to feel like cursing him to shreds. Yes, it would be an enjoyable class period.

He made his way to Flitwick's classroom, positively elated at the chance to harass her again; over the last few days he'd missed having someone to bother the shit out of. Kevin could barely contain himself when he recognized the long blonde hair and murderous eyes of Rebecca Stone, alive and kickin'.

"McKinlet," she growled at him, advancing with her wand raised. If she was anyone else, Kevin would have been mildly frightened. However, she was Rebecca and she didn't pose much of a threat to him, yet.

"Becky!" he cried with delight. "So nice to see you again! Did you miss me? I'll bet you did." The rest of the class was looking on in amusement; none of them had seen either of these two since the robes fiasco of last week, since Rebecca had been out of it, and it was nice to have the entertainment back.

"The only thing I _missed_, McKinlet, was having you in close enough proximity to hex if I needed to," Rebecca fumed, jabbing her wand into Kevin's chest.

"Five Sickles on the girl," whispered Ty audibly. The rest of the class began to not-so-subtly take bets. Kevin had gotten up to seven Galleons and Rebecca to twenty-three, when Flitwick entered the classroom and the students simmered down considerably.

Class passed in this fashion. There was almost a laser-beam path from Rebecca's eyes to Kevin; students could almost feel the heat radiating off her body in angry waves. Kevin merely taunted her, completely unfazed by her threatening glare.

When Flitwick announced for them to partner up and practice the spell he had been instructing them on, Kevin made a beeline for Rebecca. "Now is your time, honey bunch," he grinned. "Time to take all your anger and frustration out on me. That's the healthy way to do things. Go on. Curse me to pieces like I know you so want to do."

Rebecca inwardly cursed. Her desire to render him completely helpless conflicted with her hatred of taking orders from him. But the five or so days of bed rest made her itch to pick a fight with him, and that ruled out all other potential options. Within seconds, Kevin lay mute on the floor under a quickly-cast Full Body-Bind curse. Rebecca began to circle him like a vulture, grinning at his helplessness.

"Miss Stone! That is not the spell we are practicing!" cried Flitwick. He whipped his wand, and Kevin regained movement, staggering to his feet to face her.

"Bloody wench," he sputtered, shaking his head like a dog. "_Densaugio_!" Rebecca's already canine-esque teeth began to elongate, causing her them to become fangs. Flitwick made a squeaky noise in alarm, casting the countercurse on Rebecca just as she barked "_Rictusempra_!"

"_Protego_!" Kevin cried, able to block the spell. It ricocheted and burnt a hole through the middle of Rebecca's Ancient Runes textbook. Her green eyes widened in fury.

"Stop!" screeched Flitwick. Suddenly, there was a protective barrier between the two of them. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw and from Slytherin! There will be _no_ dueling in my classroom! Go see the Headmistress."

Kevin shot Rebecca a look that clearly said, _don't object_. The two of them exited the classroom; Rebecca slammed the door behind her.

"You ruined my textbook," she hissed at him, irate.

"You were going to hex me!" Kevin whisper-yelled. The two of them bickered in angry undertones on the way up to Headmistress McGonagall's office.


	20. Don't Curse Him

**Chapter Twenty**

"I am ashamed of you two!" McGonagall screeched. "Starting a duel! And in class!"

Rebecca looked at the stone floor; Kevin looked at the ceiling. Both were ashamed, and embarrassed. Rebecca wished that she had waited until after classes were over to curse him into oblivion. She gave a silent thanks to Flitwick for getting rid of her fangs; this was bad enough without them.

"And, Miss Stone, I believe Madam Pomfrey told you not to do anything that would make you bleed more."

Sure enough, when both Rebecca and Kevin looked down, her bandages were soaked in red liquid. Rebecca cursed inwardly and sat down, dizziness setting in. "I'll be fine. What is our punishment?"

"Normally that would be your head-of-house's decision. But now it's mine. I think you two will help Professors Malfoy and Longbottom. You will help them with whatever they need. And it will be a week's worth of detentions."

Rebcca's heartbeat picked up. "But, Professor, what about homework, exams-"

"You should have thought about that before you went around picking fights."

Rebecca's head began to spin.

...

"Becks, wake up."

Rebecca's eyes opened and she sat up angrily. Her eyes swam for a moment before focusing.

"Oh, God, not you."

"She's awake!" Kevin McKinlet called. Madam Pomfrey came in.

"Good, good." she said. "You completely forgot what I told you, Miss Stone."

"Sorry, Madam Pomfrey," Rebecca muttered, swinging her legs off of the bed. She stood up and glared at Kevin. "Can I go now?"

"I suppose so, it's not like you're going to listen to me."

Rebecca and Kevin left the Hospital Wing together, Rebecca in front, Kevin turning around and winking at Madam Pomfrey before closing the door behind him.

As soon as they got into the corridor, Rebecca pinned Kevin against the wall. She was a little bid winded at their immediate closeness, but quickly shook that aside as fury consumed her again.

"Why are you here? Why did you wait for me to wake up?"

"Well, I was the only one in that room that could carry you, so I brought you down here. And, _sweetie_, because I care, I thought that I would make sure you would live," Kevin retorted sarcastically.

A horrified shiver went up and down Rebecca's spine. He had carried her? Disgusting!

"Don't you dare lay a finger on me again," she snarled.

"Look who's laying fingers now," Kevin retaliated. She immediately backed away.

"Good-bye, Kevin McKinlet." Rebecca locked eyes with his grey ones and was surprised to see that the usual joking glitter in his eyes was gone. It had been replaced with ferocity and an intense, smouldering something that she couldn't quite place. He broke eye contact before she did.

"See you in detention, love!"

_Don't curse him, don't curse him, don't curse him._

Rebecca had a feeling that this would be her motto for the rest of the week.

She just hoped she could follow it.


	21. Blushing Bride

**Chapter Twenty One**

Kevin was still reeling. She'd slipped through his fingers yet again. She had a leg up on this one. She was winning. No matter how hard he tried to capture her, nothing worked; he'd charmed, he'd teased, he'd challenged, he'd appeased, and still she wasn't budging. There _had_ to be a way into Rebecca Stone's guarded heart, and Kevin was going to find it.

But it seemed like the more he began to truly hate her, the more desirable she became. Yes, Kevin had to finally admit to himself that the farther Rebecca Stone distanced herself from him, the stronger came his urge to possess her, take her, make her his. He wouldn't let her become the one that got away.

He called to Rebecca's retreating back.

"Hey!"

She stopped, but didn't turn around.

"We still have to go back to Charms, you know!" Kevin hollered down the corridor. Rebecca let out a sigh of frustration, then stomped back down the hall towards him.

"Fine. Whatever," she spat at him, offering him no other acknowledgement.

"You know what would be funny," Kevin smirked, beginning to regain his mischievous demeanor as he bounded next to her like a large puppy (Rebecca hated puppies), "is if we went into that classroom holding hands or pretending to not hate each other."

"That would be the least funny thing I could think of. Ever."

"Come on!" Kevin wheedled. "You'd get to hold the hand of someone as gorgeous as myself, and we'd completely screw up the rest of the class! Plus I heard one of the Slytherins bet seventeen Galleons that we'd make up by the end of the day."

Rebecca stopped pointedly and looked at him. "That would not be _funny_, McKinlet," she said, ice practically coating every word. "That would be us conning someone out of seventeen Galleons. And I would have to touch you."

"We could split it evenly. I'd even give you the extra Galleon."

"_No_, Kevin," Rebecca barked. He decided to ignore that she'd used his first name.

"Well, I'm broke, and you therefore leave me with no choice." Without any warning, Kevin scooped her up in a bridal carry, ignoring her squirms as he opened the door of the Charms classroom. The room immediately went quiet as every head, besides Flitwick's, turned to the door.

"Hey guys! We're back!" Kevin beamed at the classroom. Ty's jaw was the first to hit the floor. "There ya go, darling," he grinned at Rebecca, placing her carefully down on the floor. He loved that she was hating this so much.

"Thanks, _love_," Rebecca seethed, with no choice but to play along.

"Didn't you guys get punished?" asked an annoying voice from the back.

"Miss Witte, _please_ be quiet," Flitwick snapped. "You two... come back in here. Practice the spell we were working on. No other spells _whatsoever_." He enunciated the last word with such force that both Kevin and Rebecca felt one final wave of shame before they continued their Charms class as if the last half hour hadn't happened at all.


	22. Get Ready

**Chapter Twenty Two**

Rebecca and Kevin were surrounded with rumors the next few days; rumors that they were fucking, rumors that they were secretly dating, rumors that they were in love. Rebecca used all of her self-control not to kill whoever spread these. They were dangerous, and running around unchecked.

Luckily for them both, both had separate detentions for those days. Tonight was supposed to be the first one that they were together, and Rebecca, who had been wallowing in the satsfaction of no Kevin McKinlet, was anxious and angry that they were being put together. Ever since she had given him the winnings from the Slytherin- she certainly had enough money to last her for life- they hadn't had much contact, other than their eyes in class.

Rebecca snapped her book shut with a loud snap and went off to get ready for whatever was in store tonight.


	23. Herbology Hate Sex

**Chapter Twenty Three**

The pair was to be at the Herbology greenhouses at five o'clock sharp per order of Professor Longbottom. Kevin and Rebecca arrived in the Entrance Hall at almost exactly the same time and decided silently to walk together. No words were exchanged the whole trek down the hill, and even when they reached the greenhouses, they were still eerily quiet.

"Good evening," Professor Longbottom addressed them. "Professor Malfoy and I would like you to harvest mature belladonna and hellebore plants for the younger Potions classes."

"But Professor, this is work you could do in a class-" Rebecca began to protest, but Professor Longbottom cut her off. "It needs to be done, Miss Stone, and you are here to do it." Rebecca quieted down in a huff.

"I need to be up at the school in a teacher's meeting for a few hours," Professor Longbottom continued. "I trust that the two of you can stay... civil?" With the last word, he raised an eyebrow, letting them know he knew all the shenanigans they'd been up to lately.

"We can do that, Professor," assured Kevin. Professor Longbottom nodded, then left the greenhouse with two lights on. "I will return at ten to excuse you."

Rebecca let out a long, frustrated sigh. It was bad enough that she had to spend five hours with Kevin McKinlet, but worse still was the fact that no one was there to potentially save her if he became too overwhelming. They had promised to stay _civil_, but she and Kevin had different ideas of the word. Hers was total isolation. His was everything short of a duel.

"Imagine getting to spend the night with you, Becky," Kevin smirked, pulling a tray of roots towards him and looking for the telltale belladonna leaves.

"You could just not talk to me and this whole ordeal will go by much faster," Rebecca said shortly.

"But we've got each other for company! It's so nice having someone else to sort through plants with for five hours!" Kevin continued as if he'd completely ignored what she'd just said.

"I said, don't talk to me," Rebecca warned.

"But you like it," Kevin said, almost more to himself than to her. Rebecca noticed that his already deep voice had dropped a few pitches. She immediately stood up from the dirt-caked stool which she'd taken a seat on and faced Kevin fully, her hands on her hips and her shoulders thrown back. He raised an eyebrow and rose to mirror her stance, towering almost a foot above her. _Damn tall people_, Rebecca scowled.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Rebecca challenged him.

"Doing what?" Kevin asked innocently, his grey eyes boring into hers.

"Ignoring me. Pestering me. Being a general pain in my ass."

"You're fun to annoy," he said simply, though his darkening irises told her more.

"You want me." It was more a statement than a question.

"You pose a challenge," he responded in a low voice.

"So you want the challenge of getting me," Rebecca corrected herself. She'd never seen this side of Kevin before; this wasn't the cocky, insolent boy who'd stripped her of her robes and flicked a leech onto her. This was a different, passionate, adrenaline-driven person. And this Kevin was strangely alluring to her.

"You could say that, yes," Kevin replied, not taking his eyes from hers.

"Then come get me." It was a simple challenge, but Kevin read exactly the right amount of suggestion into it. He made to close the already-reducing space between their bodies, but Rebecca took a step backwards. She countered each of his movements with another of hers in an opposite direction. It was like a messed up tango, with both of them fighting to take the lead.

"Tease," Kevin accused softly, oozing malice with every step he took towards her.

"Impatient," Rebecca purred back, slipping like smoke through his fingers time and time again. Kevin growled slightly in the back of his throat and made a final lunge for her. This time, he didn't miss; his hands found their way to her hips and pulled her roughly towards him.

"Kevin," Rebecca gasped. She was completely winded by the force he'd snared her with, and she was almost worried that he was going to hurt her. The dark grey eyes, usually twinkling with mischief, were completely devoid of sparkle. They intensely held her gaze, not moving even when Kevin dipped his head down to bridge the distance between their mouths.

His lips on her slightly parted ones elicited another intake of breath from Rebecca; she had been kissed before, but they were all shy and chaste, as if the boy was scared he'd gone too far and she was going to rip away (granted, those boys weren't always wrong). This kiss was urgent, fierce, almost electrically charged. There was no trace of love in Kevin's eyes, just that smouldering look she'd seen on his face only once before. Desire?

It was almost natural for Rebecca to kiss him back. He was persuasive even when his lips weren't touching her, but now, he was moving them in just the right ways to draw forth sighs Rebecca didn't even know she could make. Kevin withdrew roughly, almost as suddenly as he'd bestowed his passion upon her.

"I _hate_ that you make me want to do that," he whispered huskily.

"I _hate_ that I don't want you to stop," Rebecca returned, her voice oozing venom. Kevin brought his lips to her again. Kevin bit down on Rebecca's lip; she squealed, more in shock than pain. Where Kevin would pull away to make sure the girl wasn't hurt, he merely bit harder and kept going. Rebecca had finally found something she loved- being kissed by Kevin McKinlet. By all means, she didn't love Kevin McKinlet; the thought of that almost made her retch. But damn, the boy could kiss, and his complete and utter disregard for her feelings as he did so almost made her enjoy it more. _So this is why he loves the thrill of the chase_, so thought, suddenly understanding.

Before Rebecca knew it, she was sitting perched on the Herbology table, robes hanging from her shoulders, Kevin's hands on her waist with no intention of letting go. He nipped the flesh along her jawline and down her neck as her hands trailed to his chest, undoing the buttons of his Ravenclaw shirt. He in turn practically ripped her school shirt in his haste to remove it from her body. Left in a thin camisole, much like she'd been wearing the day she'd sprayed water at Kevin in Charms, Rebecca shivered slightly.

"Cold?" Kevin murmured, hands tangled in wisps of her blonde hair.

"A little," she admitted, tilting her head back to give Kevin access to her neck.

"Too bad... bitch..." he hissed in an almost snakelike matter before returning to her skin, kissing it, biting it, leaving angry red welts where his mouth had been. Where Rebecca would normally pull away from him or bitchslap him for calling her so, all she did was scrunch her eyes together to keep herself from hurting him. If she hurt him, he'd stop doing _this_. And if he stopped... well, Rebecca didn't want to think about it.

Kevin's hands traveled none too subtlely up Rebecca's skirt; her legs were cold, and she was in no place to refuse the two heater coils creeping up to her panties. Kevin hooked one finger over the crotch and yanked them down her legs in a smooth manner. Rebecca opened her eyes in alarm, fearing for the second time that he was going to hurt her with his ferocity.

"Green and silver?" Kevin said, eyeing the panties that dangled from the crook of his finger.

"I like my House," Rebecca countered, suddenly on the defensive. Shit! She was not allowed to be defensive around Kevin McKinlet! But she didn't really have much of a choice; she was sitting on the Herbology table, and her panties were dangling from his finger for crying out loud. Rebecca did not have much wiggle room.

Kevin's fingers returned to her body, acquainting themselves with her. He pushed a finger into her none too gently, causing her to grimace in pain, which Kevin ignored. The pounding of his hand, in perfect sync with Rebecca's racing heart, was almost too much for her, but Kevin had other plans. He withdrew his hand from her at almost the same moment her quick hands moved to the zipper of his pants, which was undone in four seconds flat.

"Experienced?" Kevin joked, the first sign of his old obnoxious personality since he'd first kissed her in the greenhouse.

"Wouldn't you just love to know?" Rebecca shot back, pulling him out of his boxers. She got in a few quick, rough pumps before Kevin slapped her hand away. "We both know your hand is not the place for this," he grinned, almost making her blush with the innuendo. However, his voice turned serious again as he gripped Rebecca's hips over her skirt, swiveling them so he'd have easy entrance.

"Tell me you hate me."

"I fucking _hate_ you," Rebecca nearly moaned. Kevin decided that this satisfied him enough, and without much hesitation, he pushed into her. Rebecca gasped, feeling herself get used to him. Kevin again ignored her outburst of pain, continuing to move into her without much regard for the noises she was making. He continued, purposefully oblivious to the obvious protests she was making to go slower, to be more careful. In response, Kevin merely lifted her leg a bit, or leaned in to kiss her neck and shut her up.

Rebecca's pain subsided quickly, replaced with a throbbing feeling of being sated with each movement into her. Her hips bucked against his, aching to feel him a little deeper into her. With each thrust, she felt him push more and more of his hatred into her, to which she responded in full. Rebecca suddenly felt herself clamp against him.

"Kevin!" she nearly screamed, her breathy outburst reverberating against the soundproofed walls of the greenhouse. Her toes curled and her fists latched on to the unbuttoned front of Kevin's shirt. Much to her chagrin, Kevin kept going, knocking against her sensitive flesh again and again. Rebecca finally regained the energy to pull her hips back and roll over the Herbology table, landing catlike on the other side.

Not thirty seconds later, Kevin shushed her; he laid a finger to his lips, those gorgeous lips, indicating that she be quiet. Footsteps! Professor Longbottom must be returning to check on them! Kevin kicked Rebecca's discarded panties into a corner under a pile of gardening gloves as he hurried to rebutton his shirt. Rebecca merely closed her robes around her, hiding her lack thereof.

"Miss Stone, Mr. McKinlet! You have gotten almost nothing done!" Professor Longbottom glared at them. It took all of Kevin's composure not to grin. "Professor, Miss Stone's leg started to bleed again, I needed to help her treat it."

This was true; due to the activities of the evening, Rebecca's wound had burst open again and blood was seeping slowly down her leg. Professor Longbottom looked at it with concern. "There are more bandages in the cabinet if you need them," he said, indicating a cupboard in the corner. "I'll be in my office." Professor Longbottom left the greenhouse in his office in a small building to the side.

Kevin and Rebecca let out twin sighs of relief. Rebecca retrieved her panties from the greenhouse corner and hastily pulled them back on. Once their attire was back in order, the two of them set about actually doing their detentions.


	24. Ending or Beginning?

**Chapter Twenty Four**

Rebecca Stone was mortified. She had just fucked _Kevin McKinlet_. And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that he was really good and that she wanted more, much to her displeasure. No other boy that she had fucked was that good, or knew how to push her buttons so perfectly. She shivered as she walked back to the castle in the cold night air. The previous few hours had passed rather uneventfully, with neither her nor Kevin saying much to the other. It was quite nice to have her thoughts to herself for once.

"So..." Kevin said, catching up with Rebecca easily. "What now?"

"I don't know, you're quiet and never bother me again?" Rebecca snapped. She needed to figure out how she would ignore the throbbing sensation she felt in her core whenever he came near her or his skin brushed against hers.

"Now, now, Becky, there's no need to be hostile!" Kevin sang. He had finally cracked her- hadn't he?

"If you don't shut your goddamn mouth, I will shut it for you. Permanently."

Maybe not.

"Oh." Kevin drifted into silence, and his own thoughts. Rebecca reveled in the silence. Finally, Kevin McKinlet wasn't talking to her or annoying the shit out of her. She decided that she would continue to hate him, and ignore the growing lust in her belly to the best of her ability. _Damn hm for being so... good._ she thought bitterly. That would only make her life harder. But her new resolve was as stiff as her spine. She just needed to make sure Kevin knew the plan.

"Kevin!" she barked, whipping around to face him.

"What- ouch- sorry," he said, startled slightly. He had been buried in thought and not expecting the sudden stop. He had lost his footing and fallen, taking Rebecca with him. He now lay on top of her, their faces an inch apart. "Again? Already?" he teased, an easy grin falling into place.

Rebecca's face hardened. "Get _off_ me, McKinlet!"

"I don't think I will just yet," Kevin's mouth brushed hers, sending tingles shooting through her veins. _Damn him!_ she cursed. "You're too much fun." His fingers skimmed her sides, and it took all of Rebecca's self-control not to moan with desire. She bit down on her tongue to stay quiet and to keep Kevin thinking he had no control over her.

"Kevin McKinlet, get the hell off of me before I-"

"Before you what? Hex me? You and I both know you just had the best lay of your life and you want to thank me by threatening me?" Kevin frowned, searching Rebecca's hateful green eyes for the window into her guarded heart. There was nothing that gave her away. She was a hard nut to crack, to say the least.

"Get. Off." Rebecca punctuated the words with fury. When he didn't, she began to speak again. "If _anyone_ finds out about this, I will hunt you down and make sure you leave this earth in the longest, most painful way possible."

"I hate it when you're angry," Kevin said, raising an eyebrow seductively. His eyes traced Rebecca's face. "I won't be telling anyone. _I'll keep you my dirty little secret_," he sang, rolling off of her and offering her his hand. She didn't take it; she stood up, arranged her robes, and stalked off to the castle, leaving Kevin in her wake, grinning at her retreating back.

This was going to be an interesting year.


End file.
